Friday, December 31, 2010

It is almost the end of 2010. I am sure that most of you have new years resolutions that you want to complete in 2011. Then again, I saw someones list that was things they definitely knew they would not achieve. I would say the list of things to not to complete makes things a lot easier!

Anyhow, I do have some resolutions for 2011. One of them is to update my blog with my own photos. So for the month of January there will be no new recipe posts. I will be fiddling around with my new camera and posting my own photos and discarding the others on the old posts. As you can see by the above picture, I do have some things to learn with the camera. Notice the glare and the shadow in the above photo, I have a long way to go.

The cupcake recipe makes 16 light and airy cupcakes that do taste of champagne. These are a very appropriate dessert to bring in the new year with. So enjoy the hot chocolate and the fireplace for the first month of the year and I will be back blogging in February with some more wonderful recipes!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin pan, greasing the top edges of the cups to cover any spill overs.

Sift flour, salt and baking powder together and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes. The consistency should become fluffy and light.

With a wooden spoon, fold 1/2 the flour into the batter until combined. Then add the champagne and continue to mix with spoon. Add the last of the flour mixture and stir until no flour remains. If you want pink cupcakes, mix in drops of red food coloring until you reach the desired color. Set aside.

Then take a clean bowl and add the egg whites and a pinch of cream of tartar. Beat at high speed until peaks form but it is not dry. Fold the egg whites completely into the batter. Then spoon batter into muffin cups, filling only 2/3 full.

Place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Place cupcakes on cooling rack. Frost as desired.

I used more of a glaze with 2 cups powdered sugar and 3 tbs of champagne. Then I dipped the tops of the cupcakes in the glaze and sprinkled with sanding sugar. You can also use the standard buttercream recipe below for a thick, decorative frosting.

Sift powdered sugar into medium size bowl. Add butter and beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Slowly add champagne and food coloring. Continue to beat to desired consistency. If it is too thick, add a some more champagne. Pipe frosting or spread frosting on cooled cupcakes.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

I never turn down any food or drink that has lemon or lime. I guess these favorites are a result of the times I lived in California and Florida. These flavors take me straight back to the white sand beaches of Destin Island in Florida's gulf or the groves of sunny California.

Anyhow, I decided to bring out that huge bottle of Limoncello. Instead of mixing it in with lemon italian ice and having a slushy drink, I made the hard decision of making these tarts. The baking resulted in a creamy tart with a sweet flaky crust, so I did not regret the decision. Also, it looks like I still have some left for that slushy!

In a medium bowl, sift confectioners sugar, flour and salt together. Put in a food processor bowl. Add pieces of frozen butter. Using the pulse mode, pulse on and off thirty times. If it still seems dry add 1/8 tsp of water and pulse about 6 times. Check dough to see if you can form into a ball, if not continue adding water 1/8 tsp at a time and pulsing until you reach the right consistency.

Take the dough and divide into 4 equal pieces. Take each piece and place it between two sheets of wax paper. Roll piece until it is 7 inches in diameter, then place in freezer for 10 minutes. Peel off wax paper and place on tart pan. Wait 3 minutes or until dough is pliable and press into one of the tart pans, making sure it is even all around. Should it break, just smooth and press with your fingertips. The heat from your fingers will help shape it back in place. Cut excess dough from top edges with a knife. Continue with this process to form the remaining 3 tart shells.

Cover each with plastic wrap and place in freezer for 15 minutes. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Once the oven has preheated and tarts froze the alotted time, place tarts on baking sheet. Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are golden. Remove tarts and set aside. Reduce your oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Place the cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with a mixer for 3-4 minutes. It should have the consistency of thick frosting and have no lumps. Add the granulated sugar and beat with mixer until evenly dispersed in the cream cheese. Then add one egg and beat until combined. Add the remaining egg and continue to beat. Pour the Limoncello and sprinkle zest into batter. Blend all ingredients with electric mixer.

Take the filling and pour into each tart shell, making sure not to over fill. Tarts should be evenly spaced on baking sheet and placed in oven. Bake until the filling is not watery or becomes set. This should take about 15-20 minutes. Remove and place tarts on rack to cool.Serve cold and topped with whipped cream.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Alfajores are cookies that originated from Spain and then went on to South America. They are sandwich butter cookies filled with Dulce de leche (or caramel)and then dipped in chocolate. I did read on the net that several school children used the cookie recipe for a school project on Argentina.

The recipe is time consuming since these are cut out sandwich cookies. My forming technique is to roll the dough on wax paper, freeze the dough and then cut them out. This avoids having the dough turning sticky or using too much flour to keep it from sticking. The less handling of the dough after it freezes is better. Frozen dough does not lose its shape when you cut it and it is easy to peel off of waxed paper. This recipe makes about 18-25 sandwich cookies.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Set aside.

Then take a large bowl or mixing bowl and add sugar and butter. With an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter together until smooth. This should take about 2-3 minutes. Add egg and egg yolks, beating until well combined. Continue to beat, adding vanilla and rum until dispersed throughout batter.

Using a wooden spoon, mix 1/3 of the sifted ingredients into the batter. When the batter no longer has dry spots, continue with the same process until all flour mixture has become part of the batter.

Cut 8 pieces of wax paper that has the same size as the baking sheets. Divide dough into 3 or 4 sections. Place one piece of wax paper on a smooth surface, then 1 piece of dough, then top with a piece of wax paper. Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick, making sure size can fit on baking sheet. Place on baking sheet and put in freezer for 30 minutes. Do the same with another piece. Put the remaining 2 dough pieces in the fridge.

While dough is chilling/freezing, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Take one baking sheet and line with parchment paper. Once rolled out dough is ready, remove one baking sheet from fridge. Peel of top sheet of wax paper and cut dough into 2 or 3 inch circles. Place each circle on baking sheet about 1 inch apart.

Bake in oven for about 10 minutes, just so the edges start to brown. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a cooling rack.

Once all cookies have cooled, divide the total number of cookies into two even groups. One group will be face up and the others face down. On the face up group, spread with one tablespoon of the Dulce de leche/caramel filling, going all the way to the edge. Then top with the cookies from the face down group, lightly pressing to adhere to the filling.

Lastly, melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler. When completely melted, dip half of each cookie into chocolate and place on wax paper to cool.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Since this will be my last post until after Christmas, I first wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas. I hope all get to spend some quality time with family and friends. May your 2010 Christmas celebration be filled with joy and always be considered one of the cherished moments in your life.

Now back to the candy...

My mom makes these candies practically every year. They are delicious, but there is an issue of wax. In her candy coating, for appearance purposes, she uses melted wax along with chocolate. I am not sure if wax is really a good thing to be eating, but she likes the shiny appearance. Also Betty (Betty Crocker) has a coating that uses chocolate fudge frosting mix and several other ingredients. I did not elect to do either as you will see below. This recipe makes about 5 dozen candies.

Combine last 4 ingredients on a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until evenly distributed. Test the consistency by rolling a heaping teaspoon into a ball. If it seems too sticky, take the bowl of coconut mixture and place in fridge for 1/2 to 1 hour to firm up.

Once it is the correct consistency, continue to roll heaping teaspoons of the coconut mixture and place each ball on the baking sheets. Several balls can be placed on a sheet, since the size will not change. When all the coconut mixture is formed and placed on the sheets, put sheets in the fridge for at least 1/2 hour.

In the meantime, melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler.

To coat the coconut pieces, you can either use a toothpick to dip each piece, drizzle it on top of the pieces or drop in chocolate and spoon out. After placing each piece back on the waxed paper, top with chocolate sprinkles. Additional wax paper sheets may be needed for the coconut rounds, they need more spacing than before since they cannot be touching with the chocolate coating. Also, if you get through coating 2/3 of the batch of coconut pieces and see there is going to be too much chocolate, you can always give them a second coat.

With a twist: Try changing the flavoring in this recipe up to suit your taste. I have considered using pink food coloring, kirsch (cherry liqueur) and 1/2 of a maraschino cherry in the middle to give it a cherry flavor. Also, the consistency reminds me of the inside of a peppermint patty, so peppermint is another possible flavor.

Monday, December 20, 2010

It is time for a savory breakfast, but first I wanted to mention a few things about cheeses. I have a container of powdered Parmesan cheese that states 100% real cheese-no fillers. The ingredients on the label suggested otherwise. When I read "no fillers", I expected only one ingredient on the label: Parmesan cheese. Instead, I found several ingredients.

Based on the above, those containerized powdered cheeses are far away from fresh cheese. It is best not to skimp and use the powdered cheese in this recipe. You know the motto- better ingredients, better taste.

This recipe makes 12 scones, but that will vary on how big or small you cut them.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, sift flour, salt and baking powder together. Add the grated Parmesan and chives, mixing with a wooden spoon until all is evenly distributed. Take the cold butter and cut into small cubes. Put butter in with the flour mixture.

With a pastry cutter, work the butter into the dry ingredients. Keep working until the texture turns to small pea sized clumps. You can also use a food processor to create the same results. With a spatula or wooden spoon, mix in the beaten egg and cream just until the dough holds together. Remember to avoid over-working the dough. You do not want to change the bread texture.

Put the dough on a floured surface and shape into a round disk, about 9 or 10 inches in diameter. Cut into 12 sections like a pie and place each piece on the baking sheet. Bake about 20-25 minutes or until dough turns golden on the edges and some on the top. Let cool on baking sheet.

These are best warmed and eaten the next day. The flavors need some time to develop.Try serving a gourmet breakfast by topping these scones with a slice of warm smoked ham and hollandaise sauce. That kind of starting meal truly insures a wonderful rest of the day. Enjoy!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Doughnuts are made with very little ingredients and the doughnut business is considered one of the most profitable. After all, most of us would rather buy some than pull out a big vat of oil and wait for the dough to rise. I do not find them very easy to make. Luckily, it did not take long for an alternative to arrive-the flavor of a doughnut in a muffin. This recipe makes 18-20 muffins.

Take a large bowl and sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the oil mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until combined, being careful not to over beat. Spoon batter into greased muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 18-25 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

While muffins are baking, melt butter in a microwave safe bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the topping amounts of cinnamon and sugar noted above.

Once muffins are done, let cool for a few minutes. Remove each muffin and roll in butter, then in sugar mixture. Set on wire rack to cool.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Well it is crunch time! I am sure a few of you do not have any time to even turn around. Christmas parties, cookie exchanges, wrapping presents and decorating the house does not give anybody much time to cook dinner. The conversation went like this in our house...husband: "What is for dinner?" Me: "Dinner..well to be honest I had not even thought about it...

I looked through some cookbooks and recipe magazines. I was surprised to find this recipe in Bon Appetit Magazine. I love pizza (yum) and found these calzones to be quite tasty. With only 5 ingredients that require little effort to make, that added an extra bonus. This recipe is for 4 calzones.

Take sausage out of casings and place in a medium size pan. Cook over medium high heat until done, breaking up large clumps with fork. This should take about 8 minutes. Place in separate bowl with slotted spoon and let cool.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Grease one baking sheet.

Once the sausage has cooled down, resume breaking up pieces to insure there are no large chunks. Then take a wooden spoon and mix in 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce. Add the ricotta cheese and mozzarella. Sprinkle salt and pepper, seasoning to taste.

Open pizza dough package and fold dough out onto prepared baking sheet. Using your hands, stretch the dough to a 11-12 inch rectangle. Cut the dough evenly into 4 squares. On each square, place 1/4 of your sausage mixture. Fold dough over mixture and seal the edges. You can do this by using the tines of a fork or fold or roll up the edges. Take a paring knife and cut 3 slits in the top of each calzone (this allows for steam to escape while baking).

Place calzones in oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven to cool for about 5 minutes. While cooling, warm the remaining marinara in a saucepan.

Serve calzones warm with sauce on the side.

With a twist: There are many variations of fillings, depending on each person's taste. However, it is important that it not be too watery or too dry. In addition, the dough can be brushed with oil and sprinkled with garlic powder or Parmesan cheese. Use your imagination and taste to personalize this recipe.

Monday, December 13, 2010

This cookie is a favorite and has many names. The recipe for these cookies was first published in the 1950's and the actual country of origination is unspecific. The name of the cookie has been linked to several countries: Russia, Mexico, Italian and even areas of the Middle East.

Anyhow, this particular recipe was one of the top ten in a cookie contest. This is a common cookie recipe, but with the difference being macadamia nuts instead of pecans. This recipe makes 4-4 1/2 dz, depending on the size of your cookies.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and 1/2 cup of sugar. Add vanilla and set aside.

Take a smaller bowl and sift together flour and salt. Mix in chopped nuts. Then, with a wooden spoon, blend into creamed butter mixture. Stir together until no more flour remains.

Take portions of the dough and roll into 1 inch balls. If you are using colored sanding sugar, now is the time to roll the balls into that sugar. Then place balls on ungreased cookie sheets about 1 inch apart.

Bake 15 minutes until lightly browned. The bottom of the cookie should be browned and a few toasted spots on top-do not wait until the tops have cracked. Remove pan from oven.

If using confectioners sugar, roll each of the warm cookies in sugar. Place cookies on rack to cool. You can roll again once the cookies have cooled. It is important that cookies cool on rack. A flat surface combined with the sugar coating will cause them to be soggy on the bottom.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Red fruits are my favorite-strawberries, cherries and cranberries. Also, when it comes to pies and these particular fruits, cherry is the only one that I prefer in a baked pie. The others I serve cold as a topping on cheesecake or as a cold pie.

This particular pie recipe is unique in the combination of cranberry and fudge. Since cranberries are so acidic, you have to be careful about the amount and richness of the chocolate that is used. White chocolate or bittersweet chocolate would diminish the cranberry flavor. The semi-sweet chocolate ganache was right on the mark.

You will find the recipe to be very easy. The end result is a very elegant and decadent pie, which is perfect for the holidays. Also, it does not take a big slice to satisfy, so you can get 8-10 servings instead of the normal 6-7 slices you would get out of a baked pie.

To make the filling, you will need to heat up water in the bottom pan of a double boiler. Once the water comes to a boil, fill top pan of boiler with heavy cream and chocolate chips. Stir mixture until chips have melted and cream is no longer separate. This will take about 4-5 minutes.

Pour the hot chocolate mixture over the graham cracker crust in the pie pan. Smooth until chocolate is level in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle nuts evenly over the bottom. Place pan in fridge to cool for 2 hours

While pan is cooling, you can make the filling. In a small saucepan mix granulated sugar, salt and cranberry juice. Set stove to temperature to medium high and place saucepan over heat. Bring to a boil and then turn temperature down to medium. Add the dried cranberries and let cook for about 5 minutes.

Then add the whole cranberries and let cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Most of the berries would have burst in the cooking process and the mixture should have started to thicken. Pour mixture in a heat resistant bowl and place bowl in fridge to cool.

Once the graham cracker/chocolate pan has chilled for 2 hours, the cranberry filling should be cool enough to use. Spoon the cranberry filling on top of the chocolate nut layer. Smooth out the filling and make sure that it covers all the chocolate/nut layer. Place pan back in fridge for at least 1 hour prior to serving.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

In reviewing some cupcake contests, I have found that the red velvet cupcake has been a winner several times over. In addition to that, it's festive color makes it very appropriate for Christmas or Valentine's Day.

I believe that there are as many variations of the recipe as variations in taste, especially in the amount of cocoa. This particular recipe has the largest amount of cocoa, 1/4 cup. I like chocolate, so I passed on those other recipes calling for only 1 or 2 tablespoons of cocoa. The amount of red food coloring is also a personal preference, yet some brands of colorings are stronger than others. I used only a 1/2 of the large bottle of Adams brand, which resulted in a very burgundy color as shown above. Next time I will try less.

Regarding the frosting, you can click over to the original recipe that has one with a lot of cream cheese or use a lighter recipe by going back to my 2 posting in Aug 2010. The lighter recipe holds up if you want fancy decorated cupcakes. This recipe is for about 18-24 cupcakes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the top cup edges of your muffin tin and place paper liners in the cups.

Sift together baking soda, salt, flour and cocoa in a small bowl and set aside.

Then take out a medium bowl and hand held mixer. Fill bowl with oil and add one egg. Beat at low speed for 1 minute until combined.Add the other egg and beat again until combined. Mix in the food coloring, vanilla and vinegar. Make sure the sides of the bowl are scraped with a spatula and all is blended.

Pour in 1/3 of the buttermilk and mix with a wooden spoon. Continue to mix batter and add 1/3 cup of flour. Follow those steps until all is combined into bowl.

Spoon batter into prepared paper liners. Fill only 2/3 full, the batter does rise and you do not want it spilling over. Place in oven to bake for 15-25 minutes, or when tester comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool for 2 minutes, remove and place on wire racks to cool.

When completely cool, frost as desired or sprinkle confectioners sugar on top.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Instead of the same old cookies this holiday season, I am trying out new recipes. Since this particular recipe calls for toffee chips and roasted bananas, it is about as far away from the standard/traditional that you can get.

Monkeys would probably complain that they need more banana flavor, but it is just right for us humans. The addition of toffee chips brings the flavor to another "more human" and tastier level. The cookies are thin and chewy in texture. The recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line one baking sheet with parchment paper. Take each banana and slice lengthwise into two pieces. Place on baking sheet skin side down. Brush cut sides with butter and sprinkle tops with brown sugar using total of 1/4 of a cup. Bake in oven 15-20 minutes. Scoop out banana and place in large bowl and discard skins. Set bowl aside.

In a smaller bowl, sift together salt, flour and baking soda. Then take your bowl with the bananas and add butter, both kinds of sugar, vanilla and eggs. Beat with electric mixer until smooth.

With a wooden spoon, fold in flour mixture in two increments. When no flour remains, mix in all the toffee bits.

Take two baking sheets and line with parchment paper. Drop a tablespoon of batter onto the baking sheet. Continue with this process, spacing each drop of batter about 1 1/2 inches apart. At this time, you can opt to sprinkle sea salt on top of each. Then bake in oven for about 9-11 minutes.

This cookie needs turn a little toasty on top, not just brown on the edges. Remove pan from oven and leave on cookie sheet to cool for 5-10 minutes. Then transfer to rack to finish cooling.

Friday, December 3, 2010

We all want s'mores every once in a while, but the weather may be too windy or cold for a big campfire. The next option would be to light a fire inside and roast marshmallows. No fireplace? Well don't despair, these bars give you the same great flavor combination of marshmallows and chocolate and does not require any fire to be built.

The recipe uses marshmallow cream and I had some on hand. Since this recipe, I have found out that there is marshmallow cream that you can buy that actually has a toasted flavor. You can find it by clicking here. I will definitely be using the "toasted" cream next time.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8 inch square pan. Take a long piece of parchment paper and line bottom and two parallel sides, leaving an overhang on the sides for handles. Grease parchment paper.

In a small bowl, sift together salt, baking powder and flour. Then whisk in graham cracker crumbs. Set aside.

Take a large bowl or stand mixer bowl and put it both types of sugars and butter. With an electric mixer, cream together ingredients until fluffy. Then beat in egg and vanilla extract. Set mixer aside. With a wooden spoon, fold in 1/2 of the flour mixture into the batter until combined. Repeat with second half of flour.

Once no more flour remains, take dough and split in half. Using your hands, press 1/2 of the dough into the bottom of the pan, making sure it is even. Then place the candy bars in a single layer on top of the dough.

The next layer will be the marshmallow fluff. Using a spatula, scrap out all the fluff and put in pan. Taking a wet knife or dampened hands/palms, smooth the fluff evenly over the candy bars. Set pan aside.

Then take a piece of wax paper and place the second half of the dough on top. Press or roll into an 8 inch square and place in the freezer for 5 minutes. After freezing, take out square and flip into pan (over the fluff) and peel off wax paper. Wait 10 minutes for dough layer to soften and then press down to make sure that there is no air between fluff and dough layer.

Bake s'mores for about 30-35 minutes. They should be a light golden brown when done. Wait until completely cool before lifting out of pan with parchment handles. Then cut and serve.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

It was about 24 degrees this morning and I was craving apple pie. However, I opted for something that would fall under the breakfast category. Since these rolls contain apple cider, apple butter and apples-my craving quickly subsided. Plate these up with some hot tea in the morning and the apple lovers in your family will be in the kitchen in no time.

I noticed on the original recipe, the dough called for 10-12 cups of flour and 3 packets of yeast. This seemed way too much for the recommended pan to use, which was a pie pan. Dividing the recipe by three resulted in the proper amount of dough. Also these rolls rose high in the pan, so pan with higher sides ( 9 or 10 inch square or round cake pan) works much better.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1/3 cup granulated sugar, warm water and yeast. Set aside for 5 minutes to foam up. Beat in egg, 3 1/2 tbs melted butter and salt. Pour into stand mixer bowl and fix mixer with dough hook

With the mixer running on low, slowly add 3 cups of flour. Once combined, put mixer on medium and add the other cup of flour. Let dough knead in mixer for 4 minutes. If it still remains sticky after this time add some flour and continue to mix. Dough should be done when it is smooth and elastic. It no longer sticks to the bowl. You can do this without a stand mixer, just mix with wooden spoon and knead with your hands for 8 minutes. Due to the stickiness of the dough, it is best to use a stand mixer if you have one.

Shape dough into a ball and place in a well oiled bowl. Cover loosely and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. During this time, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and butter a 8 or 9 inch square pan

Once you dough has doubled in size, punch down. Then place on a well floured surface and roll into a rectangle, about 10x14 inches. Spread the top side evenly with the apple butter, leaving 1/2 inch border on the bottom length of 14 inches. Then you will sprinkle on the rest of the filling: diced apples, cinnamon and brown sugar (in that order). Roll the dough into a 14 inch log. Cut into 9 pieces, about 1 1/2 inch wide. Place each piece with the spiral showing into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

While rolls are baking, prepare the icing. Whisk 2 tbs of melted butter with 2 tbs apple cider. With a mesh sieve or sifter, sift 1 cup of powdered sugar into cider mixture. Whisk until all is combined. Continue to add powdered sugar until you reach desired consistency. Pour warm icing over warm rolls just prior to serving.

Monday, November 29, 2010

I have been looking at all the cookie recipes for the LA Times Cookie Contest. This "old fashioned cookie" is very big and has a soft texture. The flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg seem to be more prominent the day after baking. This cookie is supposed to be plain or topped with raisins. I opted to put chocolate chunks on top of mine.

The cookie batter was quite difficult to deal with. It was very sticky, even though left in the fridge overnight. Since it is a cut out cookie, I used floured parchment paper and once the cookies were cut, took off the residual dough around the cookies. Then put the parchment paper with the cookies on the baking sheet. I do most sugar cookies this way so there is not a lot of moving of the dough. The recipe states to use a cloth board and a rolling pin with cloth, but I did not have this equipment.

Before making these, take into consideration the extra time and effort required to handle the delicate and sticky cookie batter. I even tried other ways to form the cookies, such as dropping the dough on the baking sheet and then flattening with a glass or fork. That process changed the texture of the cookie. It turned out very flat and not at all fluffy. The cookie normally puffs to about 1/2 inch in the baking process. This recipe makes about 3 dozen 3 1/2 to 4 inch size cookies.

On the day before baking, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.

Pour buttermilk in a small bowl and sprinkle baking soda over the top. Put this bowl aside also. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar with an electric mixer. Once combined, mix in the eggs, one at a time. Add the buttermilk mixture in three increments, beating after each addition until it resembles the consistency of whipped cream.

With a wooden spoon, mix 1/3 of the flour mixture into the batter until combined. Continue with this process, taking care not to overwork the batter but insure that all the flour is blended in. Cover bowl of batter with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight.

The next day, if you are using raisins, you will need to soak in water to soften. Otherwise skip that step and just start by preheating your oven to 475 degrees. Then cut 2 pieces of parchment paper to line your baking sheets. Take the dough out of the fridge and divide into 5 sections with a knife. Put one piece of the cut parchment paper on your counter and flour. Then flour your rolling pin. Place one section of batter on the paper.

Roll out dough to 1/4 thick, using a well floured rolling pin. Then cut out 6-7 cookies with 3 1/2 inch cutter and remove excess dough. Put excess dough back in chilled bowl and return to fridge. If you opted for a raisins or chocolate chunks on your cookies, place 5-7 pieces on top of the each cookie. Put baking sheet in oven and bake 5-6 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove cookies and place baking sheet on cooling rack for 2 minutes, then transfer cookies directly to rack with a spatula for final cooling. Repeat this process for the remaining 4 sections of the cookie batter. You can re-use the parchment paper for your batches. Just make sure that you scrape off all the flour residue after baking each time prior to flouring for the next batter.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

After watching the food truck challenge on the Food Network, I wanted to know what all the fuss was over these Vietnamese sandwiches. I searched and found a recipe in Bon Appetit magazine.

This recipe is made with seasoned pork meatballs, but there are several versions out on the internet. These are a healthy and tasty change from a hamburger. Even though the hamburger food truck won in NY, the food truck selling these type of sandwiches won out in every other place and for good reason.

Should you be more curious or are looking for more recipes, check out the "battle of the Banh Mi" by clicking here.

The recipe below makes about 4 sandwiches and has some special sauces/spices. In Texas, I have been able to find all of them in the Asian section of the HEB grocery store.

First you will need to do all the chopping of the vegetables as noted above. If you use a food processor with a shredding or slicing disk, make sure that your grated items are not too thin or your pickled veggies will be soggy. They have to be stout enough to not turn to mush in the pickling process.

Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment or wax paper. In a medium size bowl, take the first eight ingredients listed above and put in bowl. Mix with wooden spoon until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Then moisten your hands with water and form pork mixture into balls, using a heaping tablespoon for measuring. Place meatballs on baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Place in fridge to chill for 1 hour or more.

The next step is pickling your vegetables. Place rice vinegar, 1/4 cup of sugar and salt in a small bowl and whisk together. Toss in the shredded carrots and daikon/radish. Let this mixture stand at room temperature for about one hour. During this time, you will need to toss the vegetables every 15 minutes.

After your meatballs have completed the chilling time, place a saucepan on the stove at medium high or plug in an electric skillet. Pour in the sesame oil and let it heat for 3 minutes. Then add your meatballs. Let the meatballs brown, turning to different sides at intervals. Turn the heat down if you find them cooking too fast. The meatballs should take 10-15 minutes for each batch to be cooked through.

To assemble the sandwiches, butterfly the bread rolls or baguettes. Then place meatballs in first, then vegetables and then the final touch of sprigs of cilantro on top.

This is a great lunch sandwich. Be creative and substitute your usual regular potato chips on the side with fried won tons wrappers with salt. Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

This recipe is chock full of pecans, some existing in the cake and again in with the sweet streusel filling. Toasting the pecans and browning the butter is a must to bring out the true flavor of the pecans. This is great for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

First, you will need to do your prep work. Butter the inside of a 9X5 inch loaf pan. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

To make the brown butter, melt 1/2 cup of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. I used a white enamel saucepan, since you can see the color of the butter as it cooks. After the butter is melted, continue to cook for an additional 8 minutes, whisking the whole time. Your butter should be nut brown when done. Pour into a heat resistant bowl. If you find that black or brown particles have settled in the bottom, use a mesh strainer when pouring. Place bowl in the fridge to cool. Cooling time ranges from 30-40 minutes.

As the butter is chilling, the pecans will need to be toasted. Place all two cups in a single layer on a baking sheet. Put pan in oven and toast the pecans. This should take about 15-20 minutes. Take the sheet out of the oven and let the pecans cool. When they cool enough to be handled, chop each pecan into 1/4 or smaller size pieces. Toasted pecans are very brittle, so I used my fingers to break them up into pieces.

Take out 1/2 of the pecans for the streusel filling and set aside the rest. Combine the pecans, 1 1/2 tsp of flour and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Then stir in the 2 tbs of butter using a fork until the streusel is very crumbly. Do not over mix. Set aside.

To make the bread, start by sifting together remaining flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and put aside. Take out the brown butter and empty it into a mixing bowl. Add the remaining brown sugar to the butter and cream both ingredients together using an electric mixer. It should take about three minutes for the batter to become light and fluffy. Still using your electric mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla extract.

Fold 1/3 of the flour mixture into the batter with a wooden spoon. Once no flour remains, fold in 1/3 of the sour cream. Continue with this process until all flour and sour cream are mixed in. Put in the rest of the toasted pecans and stir until evenly distributed.

At this time, your batter will need to be split in two halves. You can measure it out and separate evenly (which is the best method) or you can divide by sight. If the batter is unevenly divided, the top of your bread will sink (streusel to close to top) or the loaf will stick to the pan (streusel too close to bottom).

Put 1/2 of the batter into prepared pan. Run a wet knife over the batter to make it smooth and even. Sprinkle on the streusel, making sure that all the batter is covered. Spoon the rest of the batter over the streusel and smooth the top again.

Bake in oven until golden brown and tester comes out clean, about 55-60 minutes. Remove from the oven and place pan on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Then empty pan, letting the loaf continue to cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Monday, November 22, 2010

This is a simple bar cookie that keeps well, so they can be made in advance of serving. The dough bakes for a long time at a low temperature, so it is good to review the whole recipe to make sure you have plenty of time. As with most shortbread cookies, these are not too sweet and have a very crumbly texture. They are perfect alongside fruit or frozen desserts and with a cup of tea or coffee. This recipe makes about 35 squares.

Shortbread Squaresadapted from Great Recipe cards/Section 26-card 86

Ingredients:4 cups plus 2 tbs all purpose flour1 cup sugar2 cups butterColored sugar or confectioners sugar for decoratingPreheat oven to 275 degrees and butter the inside of a 9 X 13 inch pan. Also line the bottom with parchment, leaving the two long sides as overhang for handles. Butter the top side of the parchment lining the bottom of the pan.

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add all of the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until all flour is distributed. Put dough in pan and take a sheet of wax paper and place over the dough. Then flatten the dough by pressing with your hand on the wax paper. Press out to all corners and try to get it as even as possible. Make indentations on top of the dough with a fork to insure that no bubbles form when baking.

Place pan in oven and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Take pan out and and cut into squares. Turn oven off and place pan back in oven. Leave in oven until the inside oven is cool.

Remove pan and sprinkle with sugar. Using the parchment "handles" remove all the squares from the pan. The squares should be placed in airtight containers for storing.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Mustard rolls with maple syrup topping does not sound like it would be good, however the flavors come together quite well and these are perfect for this time of year. Steer away from the traditional and put a little zip in your bread with this recipe, it will be a tasty change. This recipe makes 2 dozen rolls.

Take a saucepan and pour in the milk and place it on medium high heat. When the mixture starts to get foamy on the edges, remove from heat. Add 4 tbs of butter and 1/4 cup of syrup. Cool, stirring occasionally. Once the mixture is about 110 degrees or is just warm to the touch, sprinkle in the yeast and whisk. Set aside for 10 minutes to become bubbly.

In the meantime, sift together both flours and salt in a stand mixer bowl. Then go back to the saucepan with the yeast mixture and whisk in the mustard. Then pour the mixture in with the flour. Mix with dough hook at low speed or by hand until no flour remains. Continue to mix, if by hand it will be for 10 minutes and electric mixer will be for 5 minutes. If you find that the dough is too sticky add a little flour.

Turn out the dough and knead on a floured surface for 1 minute. Take a large bowl and generously butter the inside and place the dough in the bowl, turning so the whole surface is covered with butter. Lightly cover bowl and set in warm place to rise double in size. The rise time should be about 1-1 1/2 hours.

During the rising time, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and butter paper side up. After the dough has doubled, punch down. Then divide into 24 pieces and roll each into a smooth ball. Place the dough balls on the parchment, spacing evenly. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise again for about an hour. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Melt the 2 tbs of butter and mix with 2 tbs of maple syrup to form a glaze. When 2 rising time is complete, brush rolls with the glaze. Place baking sheet in oven and let rolls bake for about 15 minutes, turning sheet at the halfway point. Remove the pans from oven and slide parchment (with rolls on top) onto cooling rack.

These will last 3 days sealed at room temperature or one month in the freezer. If frozen,bake again at 350 for about 3-5 minutes to thaw/warm prior to serving.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

I know this is not a recipe for fall, but my lime juice was about to expire, so I thought I would make use of the rest of it. There are many different brands when it comes to lime juice, but the main thing is the quality of the key lime juice.

Once a restaurant had tried to give their key lime pie a stronger flavor by adding more lime juice.Due to the brand, this process did not add more flavor, it just added more citric acid to the dessert. Finally a suggestion was made to use Nelly and Joe's Key Lime Juice and the pastry chef now swears by this brand.

That was how I came to start using that particular brand. I first had to order it from Amazon, then later I found it at Wal-Mart.

Prepare an 8 inch square baking pan by lining with foil and spraying with non-stick cooking spray. Leave foil to overhang on two parallel sides of the pan. These will be your handles to remove the bars from the pan prior to cutting. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Put brown sugar and graham cracker crumbs in food processor and pulse in 1 second intervals for a total of 10 times. Then drizzle butter over mixture and pulse again in the same manner as before. Pat mixture into prepared pan, pressing to make an even bottom crust. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Place pan on a cooling rack.

Place lime zest, cream cheese and salt in a medium size bowl. Use a wooden spoon to mix, stirring until all is evenly distributed. Pour in the sweetened condensed milk and combine with a wire whisk so no lumps of cream cheese remains. The mixture should be a smooth batter. Whisk in the egg and then the lime juice. With the addition of the last two ingredients, there should be a slight thickening of the batter.

Take your prepared pan and pour in the batter on top of the crust using a spatula. Smooth out the top, making sure that batter has reached all sides and corners. Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. The bars are done when you see that it pulls away from the sides of the pan and the filling is set.

Cool in pan on wire rack for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Then cover with foil and place in fridge for 2 hours to completely chill. After this, remove from fridge and pull out of pan by using foil handles. Cut into squares for serving. If there are any left, they are to go back in the fridge for storing.

Monday, November 15, 2010

The selection of beef short ribs at the grocery store are not what they used to be. I remember the prepackaged cuts of ribs being about 3 inches long. Now, you can find them 1 to 1 1/2 inch long. I guess I could have got what I wanted from the butcher, but it was too early and I did not want to wait. I hope that the prepackaged cuts get longer and more beefy when it is BBQ season.

This recipe takes a long time, since beef ribs are not a very tender cut of meat. However, the good thing is you can prepare most of it a day in advance and put it in the fridge. Make the recipe through the 3 hour cook time as noted below. Save the last step of cooking for the next day. Just pull them out, skim the fat off and put them in an electric skillet set at 325 degrees, pour on the hoisin sauce and cook for 1/2 hour.

If you like ribs with a caramelized crust and tender inside meat that falls off the bone, you will decide that this recipe is a keeper. It makes enough to serve 6-8 people.

Season the ribs with salt and pepper. Take an electric skillet and put in vegetable oil and heat to 350 degrees.

Place the ribs in the pan and fry. Let each side to cook for about 12-15 minutes before turning. You want the sides to be dark brown and caramelized. This process could take an hour or more, depending on how many rib batches (due to size of skillet) you need to cook.

Unplug or turn off the heat under your skillet. Transfer the ribs to a heat resistant bowl and set aside. Slowly pour your beer into the skillet and scrape up the browned bits with a spatula. Take a wooden spoon and stir in the garlic and ginger. Then turn on the heat to medium or plug in skillet and heat to 325 degrees, continuing to stir the mixture with wooden spoon.

Once the temperature reaches 325, pour in the vinegar and sprinkle in the chili powder. Mix with wooden spoon until distributed in liquid. Then place the ribs back in the pan. Cover and let cook for 3 hours. During this time, turn the ribs every 45 minutes. Also, add additional water if the liquid evaporates.

Then uncover and pour the hoisin sauce on the ribs. Cook uncovered for an additional 30 minutes. Serve with rice and steamed bok choy or mashed potatoes and green beans.

*the rice vinegar is easy to find, but I had to go to a few grocery stores for the hoisin sauce. I finally found it at Albertsons.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

These are called chews because they are a cross between a candy and a cookie. How they are related to the Chinese is a puzzle to me... The original recipe comes from Good Housekeeping back in 1917. They do not contain any chocolate or butter. Also, the ingredient of dates make them more healthy than most cookies or candy. Even though healthy, these little morsels are quite tasty. While satisfying our sweet tooth, we all can feel better about choosing this as an afternoon snack.This recipe makes about 40.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take a cookie sheet and line with parchment paper.

Sift together the first four ingredients. Then mix in the beaten eggs with a wooden spoon. The batter should be like muffin batter. I did not have any issues with the consistency, but if the batter appears too dry, add a little milk to the batter.

Fold in walnuts and dates. Then with a spatula, empty batter into center of baking sheet and smooth with a wet knife. Keep smoothing until you have an 8 X 12 rectangle. Then place pan in oven to bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and cut into 1 inch squares. Take a square from the corner and roll into a ball. Then roll in powdered sugar and place on cooling rack. Working with the edge pieces first (those pieces are more crusty than the rest)continue this process until no squares remain.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

This is a copy cat recipe using a cake mix. If you are unfamiliar with the Miss Grace cakes, they are sold on line and lemon is one of their best sellers. I usually steer away from cake mix recipes, made from scratch rates a lot higher (in my opinion) than a boxed mix any day.After all, this is a baking/cooking blog-not an avenue to promote Pillsbury or Betty Crocker boxed mixes.

After baking this cake, I was really surprised at the texture and flavor. It had a tart, lemony flavor and moist crumb. By taste, you would not know that it was made from a boxed mix.

I have included an icing recipe below, but the flavor of the cake can stand alone by itself. Note that it is a recipe for icing, not glaze. The icing will run down the side of the cake, but it will be white and not soak into the cake. If you prefer more of a glaze, use a ratio of 1 to 1-juice of 1 lemon and 1 cup confectioners sugar. The glaze will soak into the cake. The actual Miss Grace Lemon cake does look like it has more of a glaze than icing.

To make the cake: take a bundt pan and thoroughly brush the inside with the melted butter. Sprinkle the inside with the bread crumbs, turning and rolling pan so all is completely coated with breadcrumbs, especially the crevasses. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place rack at the center level inside your oven.

Place eggs, sour cream and lemonade concentrate in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until all is combined. Take a sifter and sift the cake mix ingredients into the same bowl. Combine into batter with an electric mixer on low. Once the dry mixture is distributed into the batter, change the mixer speed to medium and beat for another 2-3 minutes.

Pour batter as evenly as possible into the cake pan. Should you need to level it more, gently tap cake pan on top of the counter or smooth the top with a wet knife. Put pan in oven and bake until tester comes out clean or top springs back when lightly touched. The baking time would be 35-40 minutes.

Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes. After that time, if you intend to glaze or ice the cake, turn cake out onto wire rack to finish cooling. Otherwise, you can turn out onto cake plate.

To make the icing: Sift all the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl or blender. Add the remaining wet ingredients. If using a blender, pulse the mixture for about 10 times then blend steady for 45 seconds until mixture is smooth. If using mixture, blend with a wooden spoon until most of loose sugar is gone. Then beat with an electric mixer for 45 seconds. Icing should be smooth and pourable.

Drizzle icing over cooled cake and take off rack and place on cake plate when icing has firmed up.